Black Blue Bird
by Airway Static
Summary: There's a certain rumor going around. After five companies, Kagami won't tolerate anyone dismissing it, especially when the last of them was his own. Wherein Kuroko is some kind of urban legend, Seirin basically sells information, and Kagami has actually done some research.
1. Chapter 1

There was a rumor going around and Kagami didn't know who started it, but if he ever met the punk, they'd be walking away with a broken nose.

He honestly didn't know how the information got out but all of a sudden, everyone and their mother seemed to think (know) think that Seirin was done for.

Even goddamn Midorima had come by to offer his condolences. And Akashi. That absolute bastard.

Kagami didn't know how, but he was almost positive that this was all his fault. After all, he and his Rakuzan had been suspiciously safe from the recent hacks that were affecting a lot of the other companies lately.

The first he (and the rest of the public) had heard of it was when Seishinkan had been hit; they were big, one of the kings, and the losses they'd suffered had made the front page. After that was Seihou. And once Kagami started digging deeper, much more had come to light; Shinkyo, an up-and-coming business had suffered a fatal hack two weeks before Seishinkan had been touched. And some unknown companies Jitsuzen and Kinga had disappeared between Seishinkan and Seihou.

He thought he'd been discreet in his investigations. The only person outside of Seirin to know had been Aomine and that was only because the lazy bastard had a secretary who gathered information like a god(dess).

It had been two hours after thinking about it when Kagami got the phone call.

"He got us," Riko gasped into the phone, practically hyperventilating as she watched two years of her life spent meticulously gathering information go up in smoke. Hyuuga had to take over the phone while in the background, Kiyoshi tried to escort Riko to a couch.

Everything was disappearing, he'd said.

Five minutes ago, every computer in the office became inaccessible, while everyone's data was erased. While trying to regain control, the only thing they got was an animation of a blue bird in the middle of the screen, staring at them before tottering off to disappear to the side.

Needless to say, every bit of Kagami's research had been the first to go.

Listening to this story that sounded like a complete lie (he only wished), Kagami hardened his resolve.

The figure that had already become a legend in the underground...the mysterious hacker "Kuro"... "I'll definitely find you...!"

* * *

Somewhere across the city, Aomine navigated through the pile of books stacked waist-high to stand beside the person sitting at the computer desk.

One glance at the screen was enough to understand. "Even the bank account?"

"Of course."

Aomine sighed, but a corner of his mouth was undeniably turned up in a fond smirk. "You can be a real bastard sometimes, know that?"

With a final click, Kuroko just sat back and watched the money drain away.

* * *

For once, a note: saw AU idea on tumblr. This came about. Further questions?


	2. Chapter 2

The note's sequel: Since it really seems like something multi-chaptered now, I'll continue. For those who have read, favorited, and reviewed, please continue to do so~ Followers too, thank you very much. I'll try not to put in more notes after this...

* * *

It pissed Kagami off, how surprised he was when every person he'd talked to about Kuro before suddenly disappeared from the net.

Izuki was there to save the day then.

Using his "Eagle Eye" (Seirin's nickname for his infamous book of contacts), he found someone else for Kagami to talk to. They were perfect in the sense that Seirin had never used them before. In terms of everything else...well. There was a reason Seirin refused to work with them.

Kagami had never interacted with anyone from Kirisaki Daiichi but his seniors, especially Hyuuga, had told him more than enough about their...less than ideal methods.

Walking away from his meeting with Hanamiya, Kagami had to agree. Operating as an information agency, you had to toe a fickle line between helping and selling people out. Seirin was new, but Riko was good at reading exactly what a person wanted versus what they had to give and they managed that way.

Kirisaki Daiichi, on the other hand...they didn't just collect information. They stole. And once the information was out of their hands, "We're not accountable for anything that happens. So what if some office happened to get broken into? Isn't it someone else that's holding the evidence? If you're that careless, you deserve to get caught, idiot!"

Just thinking about that bastard's smirk had Kagami grinding his teeth. But there was no questioning the quality of his information. They wouldn't have survived so long operating on faulty data. With that and the promise of info on Kuro, Kagami struck a deal with Hanamiya.

And despite his misgivings, he was rewarded with a folded slip of paper that looked suspiciously like the stationary he'd seen Aomine's secretary using. It was followed by a flash drive that he had yet to look through.

He kept both on him, in the vague superstition that everything he'd worked on wouldn't disappear again.

Although he doubted that Kuro would suddenly put out a hit on him. Even the guys that had given him information weren't gone permanently; they were just in hiding. Riko had still been concerned but Mitobe managed to talk her out of it, somehow. If there was one sure thing, that guy operated strictly on the web, and completely alone. Small blessings. (If worst came to worst, he was sure Tatsuya would give him a discount for Yousen.)

The address the paper revealed was an innocuous apartment, a five minute walk from the nearest bus stop and twenty minutes from the station.

"Surprisingly normal for a psychotic criminal with privacy issues." Somehow, Kagami felt disappointed.

The stairs creaked under his weight, ruling out a surprise visit. That suited him just bastard had completely wiped their servers, erasing two year's worth of his seniors' work. Kagami was looking for a head-on confrontation.

On the way up, he had assumed that no one else was around. It wasn't until the kid actually brushed past him that Kagami realized there'd been someone there. Luckily, he managed to catch himself before his face and the stairs had a rather painfully intimate meeting.

* * *

"Hey, you!" Kuroko paused, before slowly turning around to face the nosy redhead. His expression might have been a bit surprised at his sudden appearance, but suspicion wasn't there. As expected, he asked something along the lines of, "Do you live here?"

"Yes...are you looking for somebody?" Anyone else would have walked away. But, Kuroko was a manners kind of person.

The redhead nodded and asked about his apartment. For an answer, "I live there, but...?" Kuroko's words expertly trailed off with just the right amount of hesitance, mixed with polite wariness.

As the redhead turned away, grumbling about lying bastards and forged information (who asked for the address of some kid?!), Kuroko reached the bottom of the stairs. He was playing with fire here and he knew it.

But sometimes, it was just so easy. He smiled at the thought, just a bit, as he continued walking, newly acquired flash drive safe in his pocket.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the fuck are those?" Aomine didn't even bother trying to comprehend the numbers in front of him. He barely even glanced at them.

"Basketball scores." One look at Kuroko's face was enough to provide the extra information.

"Oh my god. You're serious."

"I usually am."

"You seriously want me to text you in code."

"Only for important things." As if that made the request any less ridiculous.

It was too much trouble. Aomine was definitely going to refuse. Even if it was Tetsu.

So why was Satsuki already accepting?! "Tetsu-kun's just concerned!" And of course she'd defend him. Sometimes, he really had to wonder just who was working for who. Oh, that's right. "Tetsu-kun trumps all!" ...was it?

"Your office was broken into recently, wasn't it?" As if Kuroko needed to ask. He was the one who had waltzed into the room (right past the receptionist) to return Momoi's flash drive directly to her hands.

At the reminder, Aomine practically growled. "Kagami, that bastard. Never thought he'd go so far..."

Surprisingly, it was Kuroko who defended the redhead. "That person should have gotten the flash drive, as well as my address from someone else."

"It was probably Hanamiya. His agency's known for that kind of thing." And since Satsuki's info backed it up, it was most likely true. At least there was that.

Eventually Kuroko returned the phone he'd appropriated from Aomine, newly programmed to include a coding option for his text messages. All he needed to know were the right basketball scores.

Good. Aomine seriously wouldn't have bothered if it had been any more troublesome, Satsuki, Tetsu, or no.

"Speaking of Kagami," Kuroko, finished with Momoi's phone, set it back down. "Will you be seeing him soon?"

Aomine scratched his head and waited for Momoi to answer. She was the one who was supposed to be keeping track of these things. Eventually she dug out the planner of Official Business. Seirin had a meeting with them next week. But, "If Kagami is smart, he'll be here by the day after tomorrow."

"I see..." He didn't have to ask to be kept informed. That was already natural. As a hacker, Kuroko kept to himself. Chatting between friends was another thing altogether.

Kuroko reached over to steal a sip of the coffee on Aomine's desk; the bitter taste had him wrinkling his nose. Aomine sighed and tossed him money for a shake on the way back. When he stood to leave, Momoi also got up to see him out. Aomine remained behind, reclined in his chair, feet messing up the nonexistent work on his desk.

Before they reached the door, "Hey, Tetsu! You planning something again?"

"Honestly?" Kuroko gave them a small smile, the one he only revealed to these two. And they could tell that things were just beginning. But all Kuroko said was, "I don't know yet. For now, I suppose I'll call up Kise-kun."

* * *

Kagami really did drop by two days later.

Avoiding Momoi's eyes as he passed, he went straight up to Aomine's desk. As expected, the lazy ass wasn't doing any work at all, just playing around on his phone. At least he wasn't on that one model's website like last time...

Stashing his phone, Aomine turned to look at him. Kagami was here to investigate. More accurately, to verify a few things. That was probably obvious to everyone in the room, but appearances needed to be kept up. First, what had Koganei said? Start a conversation? Hah, as if he could talk civilly with Aomine.

"...is it true your place got broken into?" Kagami could win awards for subtlety.

"Does it look that way?"

Now that Aomine had pointed it out, Kagami noticed that the signs were pretty minor. There was no broken glass or furniture - if anything, the office looked neater than before. (Was that a _potted plant_ on the windowsill?) From what he could remember, even if the lock had been picked, the thieves had been patient; the door showed no signs of frustration at all.

The only visible suggestion of a crime were the new windows and upgraded locks.

Kagami continued to glance around. All information possible - that was what he was used to looking for and that was what he was taking in now.

There was a file open on Momoi's desk, her boss's messy signature already scrawled at the bottom. Aomine had been looking something up on his computer - the keyboard was out and between browsing and surfing, the former was more likely.

Momoi looked like she didn't care, so it probably wasn't porn.

Aomine was looking at him and it was only then that Kagami remembered that they were attempting polite conversation. "Sucks for you." As much as was possible for them, anyway. "Was anything valuable stolen?"

And there it was.

He hadn't looked through the flash drive so Kagami honestly had no way of knowing. What was in it? Junk? Or...

Were Aomine and Momoi really connected to Kuro?

The paper had been a mislead, but he could only blame it on Kirisaki Daiichi either not knowing it was irrelevant or just trying to screw him over. Really, with Hanamiya's personality Kagami thought it was an even chance either way.

The sharp note in Aomine's voice brought him back. "Nothing our insurance would cover."

Nothing valuable huh? Well, that didn't say a damn thing. But if there was one thing Kagami had, it was instinct. And right now, it was telling him to keep digging. What did Aomine mean? And what was he going to do now? _Would_ he do anything? If it came to information, Seirin could...

"We can handle it," Aomine snapped. "Geez, aren't we quite famous already? What exactly do you take us for...?" The corner of his mouth twitched up into a predatory smirk. "For a business that specializes in "recovery of property", isn't it obvious we'd handle this ourselves?"

Before Kagami could answer, Aomine pulled his phone out again. "Important message?" Kagami had never known him to pay so much attention to a phone. If Momoi's complaints were to be believed, you'd be lucky if he picked up on the third try...on a good day. His curiosity was stirring up again.

But Aomine blew it all away with a wave of his hand, flashing his phone's screen at the same time. "Nah. Just sending a friend the basketball scores."


	4. Chapter 4

Of course he'd notice the missing flash drive. Kagami should have noticed it the next time he'd reached into his jacket pocket. And there was only one person he had run into who could've taken it.

Kagami was smart. He would reach a conclusion if he tried.

But Aomine also knew that he was kind of stupid. Instead of drawing conclusions, that hotheaded guy would rather jump to them.

"He underestimates people too much. I heard he even called Akashi-kun short the first time they met! Out of earshot of course."

"Obviously!" Aomine snorted. If that hadn't been the case, Seirin would have disappeared before Kuroko could even notice them, courtesy of Rakuzan financiers and the youngest president they'd ever had.

Kagami should be able to assume Kuroko had taken his flash drive. But would he equate the small Tetsu with legendary hacker Kuro?

Not likely.

"The past Dai-chan wouldn't have, and Kagami definitely resembles him~" Momoi sang out.

Aomine strongly disagreed.

But Momoi was holding his coffee so he held his tongue. Besides, what did his opinion matter around here anyways? He was _only her boss_.

When Kagami dropped by, Aomine tried to see the clues the way the redhead would.

The flash drive really had belonged to Momoi - confirmed.

Aomine's business just so happened to lie in the realms of "recovery" (mostly money, although he wasn't above taking collateral) - that was obvious. It also meant that they would definitely take action when it came to something of theirs being stolen. Aomine even said as much.

Conclusion: Aomine and Momoi had something to do with the kid who'd most likely stolen (back) the flash drive. It was a safe assumption.

But was that what Kagami would think? ...fuck. As if he knew! It's not as if they were really alike or anything. Only Kuroko and Akashi were good at this kind of thing.

"What would Dai-chan think~? If this didn't have anything to do with Tetsu-kun." Momoi was not helping...well.

Wait.

If he didn't know Tetsu? Tetsu was fucking amazing. Even Akashi had acknowledged his talent.

But if he didn't know about what he could do...

There was no denying it. Aomine wouldn't give him the time of day. He didn't bother with troublesome people, especially those that couldn't take care of themselves. Much as he was loath to admit it, Kagami was probably the same. At the very least, when he'd seen Kuroko, Kagami had probably thought that he was...way too plain. Way too forgettable. And maybe he had forgotten, if just for a bit. But by now, he should also be considered a thief.

From there, it'd be best if Kagami came to the conclusion that Kuroko was some lackey of Aomine's. That would be good.

As Kagami left the office, Aomine couldn't tell what he believed, but he made sure to text Tetsu again anyway.

_He's thinking of_ something_, but I can't tell you what yet. Probably ridiculous though._

In a café, Kuroko picked up his vanilla float as his phone lit up with the message, followed by a new one from a certain blond.


	5. Chapter 5

Aomine ignored the blond already at the table, dropping into a seat across from him without a second glance. The fast food place was crowded anyway; any seat once vacated would probably disappear in the next ten seconds. Why Kuroko insisted on meeting at MajiBa of all places was beyond him.

Midorima wouldn't be caught dead in the place, and even Aomine had his reservations.

"Well hello to you too." Kise frowned when the man across from him failed to acknowledge the greeting. Not caring enough to make a fuss (for the moment) he laid his head back on the table.

Exhaustion was clearly visible in the slump of his shoulders but Aomine wasn't particularly interested in being bombarded with the usual complaints. He skipped the "how are you," and got straight to the point.

"Have you talked with Tetsu?"

Kise shot a glare in his general direction, without moving an inch. He knew exactly what Aomine was doing, and too bad for him but avoidance was not an option. If he had to suffer at work, everyone else would damn well suffer along with him, listening to his bitching.

Shooting up, Kise dove straight into the usual, pouring out every bit of overemphasized indignation he could muster. "Oh no, no, no, it's fine. We only haven't seen each other in months. And it's not as if we're friends or anything, are we Aominecchi?"

Aomine glared. "Don't be dramatic." Why should he be nice? It was only Kise.

"That's right! It's only me! Poor, overworked Kise. Left to a fate of never-ending cursed to fetch others' coffee."

"God," Aomine rolled his eyes. "If it bothers you that much just sleep with your boss already. Guaranteed promotion." He considered Kise for a bit. "With your looks, you could probably negotiate a pay raise too."

Kise's face twisted. "That is disgusting, Aominecchi. Do you know how old my boss is?"

"Does it matter? The older the easier!"

Kise sniffed. "You're so crude." The jibe went ignored. "Besides, if I was going to date anyone, it'd be Kuro-!"

A sudden downpour of vanilla shake drew attention to their table before Kise's loud proclamation could. "Please refrain from shouting my name out in public, Kise-kun." Kuroko tossed his now empty cup into the nearby trash can and shot Kise a look.

The message was received loud and clear.

In between dabbing at his hair and collar with napkins snatched from the container at their table (with no help from Aomine he might add), Kise fished out his wallet and handed it over. He trusted Kuroko to take enough money for another shake and leave his credit cards intact.

Kuroko extracted enough for three and walked away.

* * *

It takes another twenty minutes for them to get settled. Kuroko returned with his shake, Aomine managed to compose himself after laughing his ass off at Kise, and Kise got all the bitching out of his system in the meantime. Eventually, the topic turned to Kagami.

"Tetsu needs someone to get close to him," Aomine explained, popping a french fry into his mouth. Kise glanced at Kuroko, slightly surprised. It was rare for him to go this far. Perhaps this Kagami person was actually quite interesting?

"I'm curious now. Why is Kurokocchi paying so much attention to this guy? Ah! Perhaps you want to make me jealous?" Of course Kuroko immediately shot him down, but Kise kept his grin anyway.

"No reason really. But it might be bad if Kagami keeps digging for information. I dislike nosy people."

"So it doesn't have anything to do with Akashicchi?"

"Idi-!" Aomine's gesturing failed to reach Kise in time and the sentence was out before he even considered what the implications behind the answer could be. He almost hoped Kuroko would plead "the rules" and refuse to reply.

Or, better yet: "Akashi-kun is unrelated to this. Although he may have directed my attention towards Seirin in the first place." Kise's sigh of relief was inaudible but painfully apparent to the other two. The three sat, picking at their food, waiting for the tension to decrease.

Kuroko repeated the words. Akashi's plans had nothing to do with this. And of course he'd stop if it seemed like a conflict of interests would occur. But for the moment, it'd probably be most helpful if they managed to get Kagami to stop searching.

So for now... "We need to have someone close to Kagami."

* * *

Third in the 'Notes' series: If you've read this before...the last two chapters...have been changed. One rather drastically. The other just enough to fit the previous one. It may be helpful to go back and read. Hopefully the changes are to your liking?


	6. Chapter 6

Kise was the first one to make a suggestion. "You could get Midorimacchi to lend you someone."

It was immediately shot down. "What excuse would someone from a courier service have to get close to Seirin?" Aomine scoffed.

"Eh?! Didn't he have some other side business going on?"

"No! Where have you been, idiot?"

"Buried under a mountain of other people's paperwork, if you _must_ know." Aomine shot a french fry at Kise; the other dodged with perhaps too-practiced ease and the food flew harmlessly over his shoulder.

Before a war could ensue, Kuroko interjected. "Midorima-kun ended that a while ago, after he got a new business partner." So technically Kise hadn't been wrong. Just hopelessly out of touch.

"Besides," Aomine added. "That guy likes Akashi better anyway. If there's nothing to do with the plans, there's no way that guy would be willing to help out."

"And here I thought Midorimacchi was supposed to be neutral!"

"Well, look at it this way - Tetsu, a hacker, or Akashi, a company president: who'd make better use of a courier?" For once, it seemed Aomine had made quite the logical point.

Kuroko merely reminded, "Aomine-kun, please keep your voice down." Kise nodded in the background as if he hadn't just gotten a shake dumped on him for the same mistake earlier. Aomine almost reached for another fry...until Kuroko shot them a warning look and both settled back down.

Kise sighed. "That guy! Even though he acts like he doesn't have a preference, he actually considers things like that. As expected of a tsundere!"

"No..." Kuroko sipped at his shake. "If I asked him to, I'm sure Midorima-kun would help out." In response to the incredulous looks he received, Kuroko amended, "Well, it'd be better if we didn't have to rely on him though."

The three fell quiet as they tried to come up with another solution. Finally, the silence was too much to bear, and, "Ahhh! If only that idiot would quietly settle down! Can't he just tell himself Tetsu's my employee and be done with it?!" Aomine burst out.

Kise seemed to be wishing the same thing, while Kuroko took another contemplative sip from his nearly empty cup.

"That might work..."

"Huh?"

"Thank you, Aomine-kun." Kuroko got up to throw the trash away, heading for the door afterwards. Kise half stood, calling after him, "Wait, wait wait. Kurokocchi?! Don't do anything reckless!"

Kuroko paused. "But it's no use just sitting around and discussing, right? Let's at least go talk. We'll see if he really believes I work for Aomine-kun first."

"And if not?!"

"If not..." Kuroko trailed off. "Well, let's just go speak with him for now."

* * *

Another note: The question of whether or not this story would include pairings was brought up. Honestly...I would like to know what you think. So. Should there be pairings? And if so, which ones? Please share.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ahh! Kagami, you forgot to log out of the database again!" The shouting stopped Aomine and Kuroko at the door.

"'m very sorry, ma'am."

"Geez, it's one thing to have all our security broken into, but if we get hacked because of a careless error like this, how could I face Papa?!"

"Well, um-" And that was their cue.

"Heey, we're coming in." Aomine punctuated their arrival with a swift kick to the door, holding it open while Kuroko trailed after him. Seirin's office was a small, one-story building, too small to house anything but their main working space.

Nevertheless, "How did you get in here?" Riko marched forward to stop them before they got any further in. Rather, to stop Aomine; he was the one her glare was directed at.

"Aomine, what are you doing here?!" Kagami charged forward as well, standing from one of the computers in the middle of the room. When he stood next to his boss, it only emphasized how the two men towered over her but she didn't lose in presence at all. Before he knew it, Aomine was on the losing side of an interrogation. Yes, he was Aomine Daiki and yes, Kagami knew him. No, what was she talking about, there wasn't a chance in hell they were friends, well, _okay_, maybe a little, if it meant she'd stop pushing him towards the door. Why he was here?

"To speak to Kagami of course." Of course, he ignored the suspicious looks that got him. "About that flash drive," he paused and waited for the rest of the agency to relax. So Kagami hadn't been acting completely independently. "No hard feelings, yeah?"

"W-Well, we are sorry about that. This kid here ran to a rather untrustworthy source," Riko apologized, all meekness and manners at the moment. It wasn't just because they needed to get along with Aomine. Resorting to methods like that garnered a certain _image_ and that was not something she wanted to be attached to her boys. Not so soon after the first crisis. Hyuuga stepped forward then, to take over while Kiyoshi called her over to help untangle the mess he'd made with the fax machine.

"And? You didn't come here just to set our hearts at ease."

Aomine answered Hyuuga's question by pulling Kuroko forward. "Well, like I said. No hard feelings." He grinned while the recognition came into Kagami's eyes.  
Ignoring the surprised sounds Kagami was making and the confused noise from his coworkers, Kuroko kept his eyes fixed on the phone in his hands. He only glanced up when surprise turned into indignation. "Nice to see you again. I apologize for last time." He flipped his phone closed.

The computers' clamoring stopped Kagami from speaking again. Everyone in Seirin rushed to their respective desks, if they weren't already at it. Riko was shaking again (it didn't escape Kagami's notice) but hid it well in her stride to the nearest screen. "Don't worry," she declared. It didn't turn out to be anything big. Just an amateur attempt - probably someone trying to get in after hearing about Seirin's last security breach. It had been stopped before any damage could be done.

"You sure?" Despite his words, Aomine appeared wholly unconcerned, still loitering around the entranceway. "Ah! Want me to lend you Tetsu just in case?"  
Was he so good with computers? Before Kagami could ask, Kuroko spoke up.

"Those kinds of jokes are in bad taste," he said.

Aomine laughed the scolding off. "I guess you're right." In explanation he snatched the phone Kagami had been eyeing out of Kuroko's hands and held it up. "This guy's hopeless! See?" The screen displayed a half-written text:

_I thought your break was over? Besides_

in response to:

_How could you guys ditch me like that?!_

"Wait." Kagami glanced between the message and the men in front of him. "Don't tell me you've been typing that this whole time..."

What could Kuroko say? He didn't like typos.

* * *

Been a while! note: I'm still taking opinions on the matter of pairings, so if you'd like to suggest something, feel free. Otherwise, thank you very much for continuing to read this!


	8. Chapter 8

Kuroko let Aomine do the talking and focused on the screen in front of him instead. He was grateful for the help Midorima's friend provided, camouflaging it as an older model, but looking like he was using a keyboard (it _really_ was an old model) was difficult. Well, it didn't matter. He'd already put together most of the virus before putting the finishing touches on with his phone. All that was left was sending it to one of the computers in the office. He had the perfect view of a stack of business cards on a small table to his left; he'd just make use of the email address on them. Snapping his phone closed, he managed to finish just in time. Kagami looked like he was about to throw a fit when he finally looked up.

"Nice to see you again. I apologize about last time."

They were saved the hassle of further conversation when the computers started making noise. Although he didn't show it, Kuroko was honestly relieved. He'd been hoping someone would already be checking the email while they were still there; it looked like they wouldn't have to start making up excuses. It came as no surprise his worm got stopped. He hadn't meant for it to do any real damage, had actually wanted to make it seem like another person entirely - an amateur - had put it together.

So far, things seemed to be going their way. Before that turned out to be wrong, both Kuroko and Aomine bowed out, but not before suggesting Seirin get a little checkup on their security system anyway.

"So that thing is really actually one of the latest models, right?" Aomine asked him later, on the way back to his office.

"It's lucky that phones have stopped getting smaller," Kuroko remarked. "According to Takao-kun, it's easier now that there are some that are roughly the same size as the older ones. The screens match up better."

"Ahh...that's the guy who's always hanging around Midorima, right? You even got him to help out?"

"No. This was for something else entirely."

A short spell of silence before Aomine asked, "You just like giving people the wrong impression don't you?"

"I was pleasantly surprised to find Takao-kun also thinks it's amusing."

* * *

Even though they'd gotten kicked out, Aomine didn't care, nor did Kuroko. Their objective was met. They found Kise lounging around in Aomine's office waiting for them.

"Why'd you guys leave me like that?" Although he was still demanding an answer, the way he was reclining in Aomine's chair didn't do much to convince either of them he cared enough to really get one. He confirmed it when he followed up with, "Ah, actually, explain to me later. Kurokocchi, you should totally call and explain, got it? Right now I want to nap before I have to get back to the office."

Evicting Kise from his chair (thanks for watching out for it, Satsuki), Aomine kicked him towards the couch they reserved for guests instead. "Like I keep telling you, how long do you wanna spend on that job? We might have a new one lined up for you soon."

Kise made himself comfortable on the couch. "A new job? Wait, is this why you didn't want me going to Seirin with you?"

"I'll pay for it if you'd like," Kuroko offered.

"Eh? You sure? I'd do it as a favor to you but..." Kise's expression made it clear. He was expecting money.

That was fine. "I don't like owing favors to people either," Kuroko remarked.

Accepting a rolled up sweater in place of a pillow, Kise started humming. "So you're even sending me in, huh? I'm starting to feel a little sorry for those guys."


End file.
